“Take A Bow” by Robbie Maroon

“I can not thank you enough for the opportunity to be included in your site especially when i see some of the other artist who have contributed (always been a fan of Sananda).

I think it is a fantastic concept you have created”

Robbie Maroon, funk artist from Sydney (2022)

Robbie Maroon ON PRINCE

What was the Prince moment of your life to you?

Like most “Prince people” it is almost impossible to pinpoint a single moment, but if I had to choose, I would have to say the first time I saw Prince live. I was 16 years old and got given a last-minute ticket to go see his final show in Sydney in 1992. At the time all I knew of Prince was Batdance and Partyman from the Batman soundtrack. Going to that concert changed my life. I was so in awe by what I saw and heard. Straight after I got a part time job after school with the sole purpose of buying Prince albums and I started learning keyboard to be able to not only listen to his music but also play it, which lead me to where I am now as a singer/songwriter releasing my third album.

Another major moment was seeing the 1995 American Music Awards on TV which was just mesmerizing and completely confirmed to me to keep digging into his career.

What was Prince's greatest achievement for you: playing the guitar, singing, acrobatics, composing, acting?

How can I pick just one thing? they are all intertwined and form the rich tapestry of probably the greatest artist of all time.

I guess as a songwriter I am completely in awe of the composing and without being able to write such amazing songs we probably would have never been exposed to all the other things. So it’s composing for me.

Which album was the most valuable for you - and why?

1999 was the first album I bought and had a huge impact on me straight away but the most valuable would be Sign O the Times. The songs on this album blew me away from start to finish. I had never heard a song like “if I Was Your Girlfriend” before and it is still one of my favourite songs of all time. Add to that “Sign O the Times”, “Housequake”, ”Forever In my Life”, “The Cross” and “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man”. There is a lot on that album to be inspired by.

Did Prince teach you anything no one can ever take from you?

The one thing I am still trying to be better at is the arrangement. Prince has the ability to have these full sounding songs without having to fill up every space in the track. Having the right things at the right time, that’s one of many things I do try and learn from listening to his songs.

If you could have met Prince for a juice, what would you have talked about?

I’m not sure I would have wasted what little time I would have had with him talking too much at all, I would have been more than happy just to listen, if the lyrics in his songs are anything to go by you know it’s going to be an interesting conversation.

Robbies new album will be released on all streaming platforms on 29th April but you can listen on his website robbiemaroonmusic.com

His new single CyberLoveStory is being released this week and there is definitely an 80's Prince vibe to it you may enjoy.